Summer Break

Hey there everyone, our blog’s going to get less active over the upcoming two months as I’m away at a camp and will struggle to approve new posts quickly. We’re going to return at full force soon though, so stick with us and enjoy your summer!

Essential Albums: Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West

Modest Mouse’s name today is often associated with their most successful single “Float On” from their 2004 album Good News For People Who Love Bad News, something that frustrates basically every Modest Mouse fan out there. This is because before the radio airplay Modest Mouse was still an extremely relevant band within the Alternative Rock genre, with This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About proving to be an extremely successful debut album and their third album The Moon And Antarctica fascinating many music critics and showcasing a lighter sound alongside the philosophical thoughts about religion and creation which Brock had to offer. These early albums were both created with the “classic” Modest Mouse lineup that featured Isaac Brock on vocals and guitar, Eric Judy on bass and Jeremiah Green on the drums, an extremely consolidated lineup but one that had tremendous range and capability. This is why although many point to The Moon and Antarctica as their best album, my personal favorite is their 2nd album, The Lonesome Crowded West, which captures the wide range of sounds the band is capable of and defined them as a premiere alternative rock group of the era. The album sometimes gets viewed as a concept album because of the recurring themes of both the destruction of the west to build mini-malls and religious topics, but those are really common Modest Mouse topics that the band uses on many of their tracks outside of LCW as well, so it’s a bit of a misguided label.

WCDB DJ SUMMER EVENTS WOOO!!!!

JUNE 13^th, Thursday – ON WCDB 90.9FM, Tune in for an Interview with Why? at 6:30PM

 

JUNE 15^th, Saturday – COMEDY SHOW: The World of “Eat Fried Chicken” Stand-Up Comedy show at Urban Book Café, 8:30 PM, with Lady T and WCDB DJ ETHAN ULLMAN https://www.facebook.com/events/160252044148975/ (Thursdays 10PM-Midnight)

 

JUNE 15^th, Saturday – Why? with special guest Sarah Jaffe at Valentine’s, Albany, Upstairs, 7PM

 

JUNE 23^rd, Sunday – Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned with Apenglow at Valentine’s, Albany, Downstairs, 8PM (WCDB DJ ALEX MURO, Mondays 4-6PM, AND VARIOUS ALUMNI)

 

JUNE 26^th, Wednesday – Storytime Time – Comedy show at More Bread and Jam in Cohoes, 6:30PM https://www.facebook.com/events/317071341757356/ (WCDB DJ ETHAN ULLMAN, Thursdays 10PM-Midnight)

 

JULY 6^th, Saturday – 5^th Annual Beat*Shot Music Festival at Red Square (WCDB DJ LO FI LOBO, Saturdays Midnight-2AM)

 

JULY 11^th, Thursday – Pasties, Pencils & Pints – Burlesque meets figure drawing and pints – 51 3^rd Street, Troy – 8:30-11:30 PM (WCDB DJ HEAT, Mondays 6-8PM)

DJ Survey: What’s Your Guilty Pleasure?

This time around our DJs had to make a confession about who their guilty pleasure is, which brought out both some common and some not-so-common names getting mentioned. If you’ve got an artist of your own you’d call a guilty pleasure you can let us know who in the comments section below!

 Luuk: Joe Jackson

Sometimes I sing along to Joe Jackson songs in my car.

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Corben: The Crash Test Dummies

MY guilty pleasure is definitely the Crash Test Dummies, a really great, underrated kind of cheesy band from the 90′s. They are kind of country, kind of poppy and something my parents listen to. Maybe not exactly a guilty pleasure because they have a pretty unique sound and are actually talented but some of the music is kind of quirky and fluffy pop.

It’s my jam

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Noah: Fallout Boy

It makes no sense, their first album was great and it was all down hill from there. But for some reason I pretty much know every lyric to every song on every album. Who am I kidding, I’m Fall Out Boy’s #2 fan (some 14 year old girl is #1).

 

Kyle’s Governor’s Ball Preview

The Governor’s Ball music festival is taking place this weekend, and I am super excited for this. The festival boasts a consistent and impressive lineup that features some of the top artists from alternative music, hip-hop and EDM, with ticket holders having to choose between two artists for each time slot. Fortunately I’m familiar with a decent amount of the artists playing at this festival, and in this post I’ll let you know which artist I’m going to try to see during each time slot this weekend and why.

Friday

12:15-12:45: Swear and Shake vs. Pacific Air

Pacific Air is brothers playing indie pop. They’re a relaxing listen and well-traveled as they’ve opened for high profile acts before like Passion Pit and Two Door Cinema Club. Swear and Shake seems like it’d be a fun show as well but they’re more folky and seemingly conventional, so I’m planning on starting the festival with Pacific Air.

12:45-1:30 Solid Gold vs. Bear Mountain

We got Solid Gold’s 2012 release Eat Your Young at CDB last year and it wasn’t anything special, I’d say it’s alternative rock with a lot of electronic qualities mixed in to it, again more relaxing than danceable. I hadn’t heard of Bear Mountain before this year’s lineup, but their music seems like it would lead to a better live show then what I’ve heard from Solid Gold, Bear Mountain’s sound is more danceable and upbeat electronic so it should be a fun set to attend.

1:30-2:15 St. Lucia vs. Reignwolf

St. Lucia will put on a good electronic pop show, but my interest is in seeing what Reignwolf does during this time slot. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who seems like he’d put on a sick show, check out the video below where “Bicycle” sounds White Stripes-esque with him covering both Jack and Meg’s parts. This guy’s going to be a hit at governor’s ball for sure.

2:15-3:00 Polica vs. The Knocks

Electronic rock/R&B vs. Electronic Pop. I’m not overly excited about Polica, so The Knocks seem like a safer bet for enjoying the set but either way I don’t view this as a decision you can mess up, the options are pretty similar.

3:00-3:45 Dinosaur Jr. vs. Holy Ghost!

I’d be psyched to see Holy Ghost! over either of the past two artists, but in this slot there’s no way I can see them. I’m an alt-rock kid, and Dinosaur Jr. is one of the bands that defined that genre in the 90s, making the fact that they still release awesome albums like last year’s I Bet on Sky even more impressive. I have to go with the classic artist in this spot to get my fill of actual alternative rock.

3:45-4:45 Best Coast vs. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

I might regret this and be stuck watching a girl on stage sing to me about how great California is, basically the only premise of 2012 release The Only Place, but I’m going to gamble we get the distorted energetic Crazy For You tracks that would make the set amazing. If you were completely off-put by her last release, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs won’t be a bad consolation prize.

4:45-5:45 Of Monsters and Men vs. Dillon Francis

I saw Of Monsters and Men perform last year in Albany and they put on a good show, but I’m a bit bored of their sound now(and the mini-genre as a whole to be honest). I’m not overly into EDM but my friends who are recommended this artist, so I’m going to go with a new experience here rather than attending a show where I know I’ll be indifferent about the band.

5:45-6:45 Crystal Castles vs. Local Natives

This is another big contrast in sound between the artists, so I’d say it depends on your mood. Crystal Castles will definitely be more upbeat and danceable, and apparently she’s very good live, but I’m probably going to give Local Natives a shot here as I find their music easy to enjoy.

6:45-8:00 Feist vs. Young the Giant

This one is based entirely upon the Broken Social Scene rumor if nothing else. BSS is booked in the city to do a late-night gig on Thursday night, and a rumor is going around that Feist’s label mates might help end the BSS hiatus by doing a collaborative set or maybe even taking the stage for their own set after Feist. If it happens it would be probably the most notable story from the festival.

8:00-9:30 Beach House vs. Erykah Badu & the Cannabinoids

I feel like I’m making a mistake on this one so don’t let me sway you away from Erykah Badu, but I loved Beach House’s 2012 release Bloom and am hopeful that they put on the most relaxing show ever performed for their set. Can’t pick wrong between these artists though as they’ll both put on great shows.

9:30-11:00 Kings of Leon vs. Pretty Lights

Finally the headliners, neither of which I’m overly enthusiastic about unfortunately. I’m going to go with the same mentality I had for Dillon Francis in giving the artist who I know less about the shot here. I enjoy some Kings of Leon songs, but Pretty Lights seems like a more fun way to enjoy the end of the first day to me as I’ve heard good things about their live shows.

Essential Albums: Spoon- Kill the Moonlight

A lot of the albums that I’ve given the “essential” label represent a sound that’s proven to be influential and innovative, so that knowing their place within alternative music is important for the sake of understanding the genre. By this definition Kill the Moonlight by Spoon doesn’t fit in with the category because it didn’t change much of anything; but it’s still a must-listen album because of how easily lovable it is and it’s role of representation for a band that doesn’t get enough love in my opinion. Metacritic named Spoon the top artist of the 2000′s because of how consistently great their records were, and I still firmly believe that Britt Daniel has the coolest voice that you’ll find in the genre, but Spoon is rarely mentioned among the elite alt-rock bands from the past decade for some reason. That’s why Kill The Moonlight is extremely important, within a terrific discography this is the album that  has an iconic claim to it and will likely define the career in the future of a band who deserves to be remembered.

Essential Albums: The Pixies- Doolittle

I was to young to experience 90′s college rock as it was occurring, but in hindsight it’s easy to see that a new alternative rock sound emerged with bands like The Pixies, Pavement, Built to Spill, Archers of Loaf, The Smashing Pumpkins, Guided By Voices, Dinosaur Jr. and Modest Mouse all helping to define it. The Pixies had already had an extremely popular release with the album that some view as their best in their debut Surfer Rosa, but it’s their 1989 release Doolittle which holds that title for me with no hesitation. I’m a believer that Doolittle is one of the best albums ever made within alternative rock, which had me questioning if it was worthy of covering here since I’m under the impression many will already be aware of it. If you aren’t, then this post is for you and  you’ve got some listening to do.

DJ Survey: What’s Your Favorite Long Song?

On the radio playing a long track can be a death sentence to your listenership, but there are still those tracks that are so great that they need to be played either way. This time we checked in with our DJs to ask them what their favorite long song is and got some terrific responses. A song had to be at least eight minutes long to be considered.

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Jed Davis: ”Stairway to Heaven”

Just kidding.  Shellac- “The End of Radio”.

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Robby Red: The Velvet Underground- “Sister Ray”

The studio version of “Sister Ray” by the Velvet Underground is seventeen and a half minutes long. When the Velvet Underground played it live they would make it last anywhere from twenty to forty minutes long. Runner Up: “Marquee Moon” by Television

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Andrew: William Basinki- “d|p 1.1″

If I exclude things like full sided cassette rips, mixes, and anything that might be more then one song strung together I get rid of lots of favorites like Yard’s 37mx (1 hour 14 mins) which I guess is technically a mix.

But if I have to pick a favorite that is really just one song it is probably William Basinski’s d|p 1.1 from The Disintegration Loops. d|p 1.1 weighs in at 63 minutes and I have played it in its entirety on WCDB before. Basinski is playing at EMPAC in the fall.

Essential Albums: The Unicorns- Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?

Alternative music usually just receives the label because the songs are aimed at to narrow of an audience for the mainstream radio to play. This isn’t meant as a slight towards the genre, which is basically the only thing I listen to, but the casual listener really just wants something to be immediate and catchy along with a chorus that they know. This is where a lot of the best alternative music emerges, when a band does provide the immediacy of pop/rock cravings but they decide to intentionally fuck it up a bit for their own brand of unique experimentation. This is the best way I can describe what The Unicorns do, and it’s why they’ve become such a wildly popular band for alternative music fans who can appreciate these aspects; the broken voices, the perfectly out of place flute/recorder(?) solo, and the randomness which ultimately morphs it’s way into the songs’ rhythm. These qualities define The Unicorns just as much as the catchy choruses, and Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone is undoubtedly the album that captured the band’s gigantic potential the best.

Yazen Hits Up: Skate and Surf Festival at Six Flags Great Adventure (5/18/13)

Skate & Surf Festival made its return this spring after John D, the founder of The Bamboozle Festival, announced that Bamboozle wouldn’t be making a return in 2013. When the details about Skate & Surf were announced, the main attraction would be Fall Out Boy headlining the festival after their four year hiatus. Along with Fall Out Boy, some other bands played at the smaller stages who have been nothing short of phenomenal.